Governor of Yunnan Province Wang Yubo called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to explore ways and means of establishing close cooperation between Yunnan and Sri Lanka. During a luncheon meeting at the Temple Trees today (May 17), they discussed potential of collaboration in trade, tourism, agriculture, technology and investments.
Mr Wang Yubo, who was accompanied by a top level delegation of Yunnan Provincial Government expressed interest in assisting Sri Lanka in education and technical skill development. He said Yunnan Province with a population of 50 million and a GDP of 417 billion USD in 2022 is in a position to help friendly nations like Sri Lanka.
The Governor held a field study at Port City Colombo, and plans to visit Kandy, Polonnaruwa and the Eastern Province, where Rs 25 million worth school kits, equipment and food parcels will be distributed to several schools in the city.
During the discussions they identified that agriculture and tourism can be promoted as the pilot projects in Sri Lanka. They also felt that local communities can be directly benefited by the innovative digital economic mechanism.
The Prime Minister requested the Yunnan Governor to consider assisting in economic empowerment by promoting entrepreneurship, microfinance initiatives, and livelihood development programs. He pointed out that empowering individuals to generate income will help to reduce poverty, and improve their economic standing.
Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, State Minister Tharaka Balasuriya, Governor Senthil Thondaman, Parliamentarians Sudarshana Denipitiya and Yadamini Gunawardena, Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong, Yunnan Province Director General of Foreign Affairs, Yang Mu, DG Education, Wang Yunfei, DG Commerce and Agriculture, Li Yan and senior officials attended the meeting.